The
Angell family is of English extraction, and is descended from Thomas Angell,
who was born in England, about the year 1618. In 1631 he came to this
country in company with Roger Williams, in the ship "Lion," and landed at
Boston. He passed an eventful life, and died at Providence, R. I., in
the year 1695. He has left a large number of descendants, who live in
all parts of he United States, and especially in Rhode Island.

Ezekiel Angell, the great-grandfather of the subject
of this sketch, was a Baptist minister at Smithfield and North Providence,
in the State of Rhode Island. He also engaged in the business of
iron-milling and farming. On July 29, 1745, he married Ruth Sprague,
of Rhode Island, by whom he had nine children, of whom but six reached the
age of maturity. He died in Rhode Island on Sept. 27, 1782.

Joshua, the third son of Ezekiel, and grandfather of
our subject, was born at Smithfield, in Rhode Island, on March 29, 1760.
He was a saddle and harness-maker by trade, owned a store at Smithfield, and
filled different town offices in that place. He served as a soldier in
the Revolutionary war, and was a member of the expedition of Sullivan to
Rhode Island. After the close of the war he went to Vermont, but
shortly returned to the town of Johnson, R. I., where he married Mehitable
Manton, by whom he had five children, one of whom died in infancy, the
remaining two sons and two daughters attaining adult age.

He was actively identified with the militia of the
State of Rhode Island, was colonel of a regiment, and known through life by
the appellation of "colonel."

In 1807, Joshua Angell removed to the town of
Kinderhook, N. Y., where he engaged in farming for the period of six years.
He then removed to Chatham, in the same State, where he also pursued
farming, and where he remained until he died on Feb. 10, 1838. His
wife died on Oct. 2, 1825, at Chatham.

John Angell, second child of Joshua Angell, and the
father of Joel H. Angell, was born in the town of Johnson, in the State of
Rhode Island, on Aug. 20, 1794. He passed his early life in farming in
connection with his father. On Jan. 20, 1820, he married Amy A.
Harger, daughter of Joseph Harger, of Chatham, by whom he had seven
children, of whom six reached years of maturity, namely, Edwin, Joel H.,
Daniel, Emma, Mary, and Ann Eliza. These children are still living,
within a scope of nine miles of each other, near Chatham village, N. Y.

In
1830, Mr. Angell purchased of his father the homestead farm at Chatham,
where he still resides. He has been actively connected with the
Methodist church for fifty years. His wife died on May 11, 1874, at
Chatham village.

Joel H. Angell is the fifth child of John Angell, and
was born on Oct. 27, 1828, at Chatham. He passed his early life on his
father's farm, enjoyed the benefits of a common-school education, and
finished at the Kinderhook Academy.

On May 31,
1855, he married Catherine, daughter of Peter A. Gardenier, of the town of
Kinderhook. On March 31, 1856, he purchased the farm where he now
resides, and engaged in farming on his own account. His farm consists
on one hundred and twelve acres of beautiful and productive land.